Dear Reader, This book was referenced in one of the 185 issues of 'The Builder' Magazine which was published between January 1915 and May 1930. To celebrate the centennial of this publication, the Pictoumasons website presents a complete set of indexed issues of the magazine. As far as the editor was able to, books which were suggested to the reader have been searched for on the internet and included in 'The Builder' library.' This is a book that was preserved for generations on library shelves before it was carefully scanned by one of several organizations as part of a project to make the world's books discoverable online. Wherever possible, the source and original scanner identification has been retained. Only blank pages have been removed and this header- page added. The original book has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books belong to the public and 'pictoumasons' makes no claim of ownership to any of the books in this library; we are merely their custodians. Often, marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume will appear in these files – a reminder of this book's long journey from the publisher to a library and finally to you. Since you are reading this book now, you can probably also keep a copy of it on your computer, so we ask you to Keep it legal. Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just because we believe a book to be in the public domain for users in Canada, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in 'The Builder' library means it can be used in any manner anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liability can be quite severe. The Webmaster JY*s*?z^^ ^/u^^^r>^C SVA BY SIR GEORGE C. M. BIRDWOOD, K.C.I.E., C.S.I. M.D. & M.R.C.S.(Edin.), HON.LL.D.(Cantab.), OFFICER OF THE LEGION OF HONOUR AND LAUREATE OF THE FRENCH ACADEMY EDITED BY F. H. BROWN 11 Where Ind's enchanted Peaks arise Around that inmost One, Where ancient Eagles on its brink, Vast as Archangels, gather and drink The Sacrament of the Sun." G. K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse. LONDON: PHILIP LEE WARNER. HUMPHREY MILFORD, OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, BOMBAY MELBOURNE, TORONTO. MDCCCCXV — AUM TO THE BRAHMANA THE GOLDEN CENSER OF THE PRAYERS OF INDIA TO THE KSHATRIYA THE CONSECRATED SWORD OF HER DEFENCE TO THE VAISHYA THE CUP OF HER PLENTEOUS RICHES AND EVER OVERFLOWING CHARITIES AND TO THE SUDRA THE KEEN, WIDE-INGATHERING SICKLE OF HER BOUNTIFUL HARVESTS TO THESE THE FOUR VARNA, " COLOURS," OR " CASTES " THE ARK OF THE SOUL OF INDIA OF THE HINDUS I DEDICATE THIS BOOK IN TESTIMONY OF THE AFFECTION THAT GLOWS WITHIN MY HEART FOR MY MOTHERLAND SHRI BHARATA AND ITS SACROSANCT PEOPLE AND EVER MORE AND MORE FAITHFULLY AND FERVENTLY AS MY LONG PROLONGED PROBATIONARY DAY ON EARTH RINGS TO EVENSONG VIII DECEMBER, MCMXIV GEORGE BIRDWOOD 493757 ; : " When all philosophies shall fail This word alone shall fit That a sage feels too small for life, And a fool too large for it. i: Asia and all Imperial plains Are too little for a fool But for one Man whose eyes can sec This little island of Athelney Is too large a land to rule." G. K. Chesterton, The Ballad of the White Horse. EDITOR'S PREFACE DURING his long and eminently useful life Sir George Birdwood has contributed so frequently to periodi- cal literature, to the newspaper Press, and to the transac- tions of various learned bodies, particularly those of the Royal Society of Arts, that the present collection does little more than illustrate the untiring activity of his mind and the wide range of his far-brought knowledge. His contributions to The Times alone—largely, though by no means entirely, in the form of letters to the Editor, not only over his own signature, but also under various noms de plume, such as " Indicopleustes," " Indophilus," " John Indigo," and " Hortus Siccus"—would easily fill several volumes such as this. He has written no less constantly for, or been interviewed on behalf of, Anglo-Indian and Indian newspapers, thereby influencing public opinion in a country which returns his reverent admiration by an affectionate devotion. Of his several books the best known are the classic Industrial Arts of India, the Hand- book to the Indian Section of the Paris Exhibition of 1878, his Catalogue of the Vegetable Products of the Presidency of Bombay, his Old Records of the India Office, and the First Letter Book of the East India Company, edited jointly with Mr. W. Foster, c.i.e. But all these are, techni- cally at least, official reports prepared with more or less reticence, and unlike his miscellaneous writings such as those selected for this volume, do not reveal him at his best. We find him here thinking aloud, as if in conversa- tion with personal friends. Marked throughout by wide reading, natural eloquence, and an unfailing gift of anec- ; x SVA dote, the interest of these papers is increased by frequent etymological explanations and arresting footnotes. Sir George has written no article or letter of any length without bringing into it the praise of India, and this feature gives appropriateness to the present title of " Sva," whereby he identifies himself with the land of his birth (at Belgaum, in the Southern Mahratta Country, on 8th December, 1832), to which, like his father before him, he has devoted a life of whole-hearted service. Not the least of Sir George's contributions to the mutual understanding between Great Britain and her Eastern Empire has been his generous readiness to place his pen at the disposal of helpful literary enterprises connected with India, with- out thought of fee or reward. Many a new and promising writer has owed more of his or her initial introduction to authorship to his advice and help than to any other aid. To a great number of books he has contributed introductions or other features, full of interest and instruction. Several of the articles herein collected originated in this way, and I have to acknowledge with hearty thanks the ready permission of their publishers to reproduce such contributions—that of Messrs. Longmans for the article on " Aryan Flora and Fauna," originally given in the Appendices to Max-Muller's Biography of Words (Collected Works, Vol. IX, 1905) ; that of Messrs. Smith, Elder, in respect to Sir George's preface to Miss Gabrielle Festing's From the Land of Princes (1904), the first of a series of charming historical works from her pen and that of Messrs. W. H. Allen and Co., in respect to Sir George's large share in the preface to Sir Louis Pelly's and Sir Arthur N. Wollaston's Miracle Play of Hasan and Husain (1879),—as quoted at some length in Hughes's valuable Dictionary of Islam, issued by the same pub- lishers in 1885. Acknowledgments are also due to the proprietors of The Times for permission to use the articles EDITOR'S PREFACE xi A Sunset on Matheran," first contributed to that great journal, and also some recent letters on " Indian Unrest." Sir George was a most valued contributor to the Asiatic Quarterly Review in its earlier years, and I have to thank the Editor of what is now the Asiatic Review for permission to use several articles, including one of the most highly prized of Sir George's writings, "The Mahratta Plough"—a classic revelation of intimate and discerning acquaintance with the simple life of the Indian cultivator. I have not attempted to set forth the complete biblio- graphy of this series of papers, or always to give the dates of their original appearance, for the reason that several of them have undergone considerable amplification in detail or other revision since they were first published. Not infrequently such revision has been required on account of suggestions made in them in their original form having borne fruit. For instance, Sir George Bird- wood's remonstrance in " The Mahratta Plough " when first published a quarter of a century ago on the neglected state of Shivaji's grave on the top of Rajgar, and his glowing tribute to his patriotism and military genius, led the Mahrattas not only to remove this reproach, but in other ways to honour the memory of their great national hero. Similarly, Sir George's vigorous denunciations of the secular basis of our system of State education in India, forcibly re-stated in these pages, have deeply impressed many of her most thoughtful sons. The Chief of Ichal- karanji, a cultured and clear-sighted Mahratta Brahman, lately supported the demand for religious education at a school prize distribution by Lord Willingdon, Governor of Bombay, and discusses it in detail in his recently published Impressions of British Life and Character. The papers now given represent not only the earlier enthusiasms, but also the later judgment, one may almost say the final verdict, of their author. In reading xii SVA them it must be remembered that while clinging to the traditional life of India, recognising its marvellous vitality and interpreting it to the Western mind with a sympathy and knowledge which no contemporary English writer has equalled, Sir George has kept himself informed of the manifold external changes wrought, since the days of his youth, by British rule and the impact of Western civilisa- tion.